Vines and their wines
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remedy

Original Poster:

2,264 posts

220 months

Saturday 27th July 2013
quotequote all
Can anyone help with a few questions?

Firstly, can you tell what this grape is from these photos? From memory of moving in last year they ripened red.





Second, we've looked after these over the last few months to get, what I believe, to be a half-decent mini-harvest. I've read 1kg grapes to 1 bottle. I think I could do 2 bottles.
I want to harvest them in September/October but I don't know what equipment I need. Can anyone advise?

LooneyTunes

9,352 posts

187 months

Saturday 27th July 2013
quotequote all
Bit tricky to ID them before they're ripe. If there's no one with more detailed knowledge, there's a slim chance I might be able to narrow it down a bit when they are...

When you're looking at yields, don't forget that when growing grapes for wine, the vines will often see a cull partway through the year - i.e. let the vine focus on getting 10 decent bunches instead of 20 mediocre ones.

remedy

Original Poster:

2,264 posts

220 months

Saturday 27th July 2013
quotequote all
Thank you! This is the advice I need. We've been pruning the branches/leaves back to get the sun on the grapes. The wall is south-east facing and gets the sun from sun rise until at least 6 and it is growing with a fury.
I'll start chopping the smaller bunches back and see how it performs.

I've got access to a refractometer to check the sugar levels for optimum ripeness. As we are getting married in September I'd love to be able to get some wine bottled or casked at the same time - but I don't have a clue where to start.

Noger

7,117 posts

278 months

Saturday 27th July 2013
quotequote all
My first thought was "hen and chickens" !

Not a grape, but the differing sizes of grape. What the french call Millerandage. Caused by it being too cold around flowering and not all the fruit setting.

You will have problems as the grapes mature at different rates.

Although I am sure there are resources online that will tell you what to do.

remedy

Original Poster:

2,264 posts

220 months

Saturday 27th July 2013
quotequote all
The problems the cold can cause makes sense with the spring we had

Noger

7,117 posts

278 months

Sunday 28th July 2013
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Yes, hardly surprising !